Means for leveling and mounting machines on legs



Nov. 3, 1959 R. E. CONTRERAS 2,911,169

MEANS FOR LEVELING AND MOUNTING MACHINES ON LEGS Filed Oct. 6, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet l a 9 3 I 11 2 F 7 L s? "w -55- 2 F76 1 76 36 /1 75 2 40 +3 37 3/4 3 4 INVENTOR.

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Nov. 3, 1959 R. E. CONTRERAS MEANS FOR LEVELING AND MOUNTING MACHINES ON LEGS Filed Oct. 6, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Mg. W

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MEANS FOR LEVELING AND MOUNTING MACHINES ON 'LEGS Roberto E. Contreras, Santiago, Chile Application October 6, 1958, Serial No. 765,495

7 Claims. (Cl. 248-43) dations it is extremely difficultto support such machines in such a manner that they will be free from twisting or bending. For example, large lathes, grinders, planers and other precision machines are of themselves constructed with a high degree of accuracy so that the beds of such machines and the ways on which the work or the cutting tools travel will be as straight as possible to perform work of the highest accuracy. However when heavy machines of this type are mounted on foundations, it frequently happens that the beds of the machines are distorted so that it is impossible to perform accurate work on them. It is recognized that most machine beds are straight only if properly supported and that most machine beds can be warped by the force of their own weights. It also follows that if a machine bed is not properly supported, the machine will begin to vibrate long before it reaches its maximum output.

.It is consequently one of the objects of this invention to provide a mounting for precision machines which can be readily adjusted to reduce to the maximum extent or eliminate any bending ortwisting' of, the machine- It is also an object of thisinvention to provide adjustable supports between the legs of amachine and the bed thereof by means of which any inaccuracies in the mounting of the legs can be compensated for. I

Another object is to provide adjustable supports of this type which can be easily adjusted to compensate for any inaccuracies which may occurat anytime during the life of the machine.

"on an enlarged scale taken respectively on lines 33 and Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary, sectional elevation thereof on line 5-5, Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a transverse, sectional view of a machine mounting of modified construction.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary, sectional elevation thereof on line 77, Fig. l.

[have illustrated in the drawings one embodiment of the invention as applied to a lathe having an elongated bed9, but it will be understood of course that my invention may be applied to machines and apparatus of many different types and shapes. The machine is to be mount- --ed on a suitableor usual foundation having an upper sur- United States Patent 0 be of any suitable construction.

face or floor 10. In the particular machine shown in r "2,911,169 Patented Nov. 3, 1959 flanges 15 at their lower ends which may be suitably bolted to the foundation. Some machines to which this invention is applicable to do not have legs but employ base plates, and the term legs is herein employed to indicate either legs or such plates.

In accordance with my invention, I provide adjustable supports interposed between the machine bed 9 and the legs of the machine. The upper portions of the legs 11 and 12 are preferably provided with upwardly extending portions 16 on which suitable primary supports are mounted, and these supports cooperate with parts of the machine bed in such a manner as to support the machine bed in the desired position. These primary supports are prefably of limited universal or ball and socket type and may As shown in the drawings, each constitutes a convex part 18 suitably secured to the machine bed, and another concave part 2i) secured to the upwardly extending portion 16 of a leg. The convex part 18 has a convex, lower surface 24 which is formed to rest on a concave surface 25 of the part 20. The primary support may be secured to the machine bed 9 and the upwardly extending portions 16 of the legs in any suitable manner so that slight angular adjustments of the machine bed relatively to the legs are possible. For this purpose I have shown, Fig. 3, bolts or screws 22 which pass through enlarged holes or apertures in the middle portions of the parts 18 and 20 of the primary support and the screws may each have a threaded engagement with the bed of the lathe and may be provided with a head which engages the legs. By providing ample clearance between the bolts and the legs and primary supports the machine bed can be-shifted to a limited extent when the screws 22 are loosened. Three of these primary supports are shown in the construction illustrated and the parts 20 of these supports are mounted on the upwardly extending parts 16 of the legs in such'a manner that the machine when resting on these three supports will be positioned as desired without however compensating for any distortion of the machine due to its weight.

When a lathe or other heavy machine of the type shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is supported on the primary supports, it will be obvious that the weight of the portions overhanging these supports will cause distortion of the bed of the machine, since obviously the overhanging parts will sag downwardly, due to their own weight. I have therefore provided final adjustable supports by means of which the machine may be firmly secured to its legs 11, 12 and 13 after the portions of the machine overhanging the primary supports have been raised to eliminate from the machine bed the sags found in the same. Any suitable construction may be employed to provide final supports for the bed. In the construction shown I have constructed these final supports in two parts 30 and 31 which are secured respectively to the machine bed and to the foundation, and the parts of the final supports are provided with interfitting, plate-like parts. For example, the .upper portions 30 are each provided with downwardly extending, plate-like projections 32 spaced from each other, and the lower portion 31 is provided with similar, upwardly extending, plate-like projections 33 which are formed to fit between the downwardly extending projections 32. There is a relatively close sliding fit between the projections 32 and 33 so that the two parts 30 and 31 thereof may move vertically and also in the direction of the faces of these plates. The upper portion 30 of the final supports may be secured to the bed of the lathe inany "suitable or desired manner, for example, by

means of bolts or other fastenings 35, and the lower parts 31 may be similarly secured to the legs on which they are mounted by means of bolts 36. Preferably the platelike projections of the final support mounted on the leg 11 extend in a direction approximately 90 degrees from the final supports which are mounted on the legs 12 and 13.

Each of these final supports which are interposed between the lathe bed and its legs is provided with registering holes extending crosswise through the plate-like projections 32 and 33 and bolts or screws d are provided which pass through these holes. In the construction shown, the ends of the screws 40 engage in threaded holes in one of the projections 32 and the holes in the other projections are larger than the diameter of the screws, so that there is considerable leeway to permit adjustments of the projections 32 and 33 relatively to each other. Two clamping screws are shown in Figs. 1 and 4 and a single clamping screw is considered suficient in the other final supports, but any desired number of clamping screws may be used in the final supports. When these screws are tightened, it will be obvious that the various plate-like projections 32 and 33 will be forced into frictional contact with each other so that the upper and lower portions 30 and 31 of the final supports are connected rigidly so as to form adequate supporting means for the bed 9.

It may at times be desirable to provide some of the final supports with somewhat more leeway for adjustment. For example, the supports shown on the legs 12 and 13 in Figs. 1 and 2, can be adjusted only crosswise of the bed of the machine. In case there is also a need for lengthwise adjustment of the parts of the machine supported on the legs 12 and 13, the construction shown in Figs. 6 and 7 may be employed. In this construction the machine bed 9 may be secured to the upper portions 44 of the final supports, which are somewhat similar to the upper portions 30 of the final supports shown in Figs. 1-5, these parts 44 being secured to the lathe bed, for example, by screws or bolts 39 and these upper portions are provided with downwardly extending, plate-like projections 41 which are spaced apart to provide for entry into these spaces of other plate-like projections 42. The projections 41 and 42 may be clamped together by means of one or more screws 43 similar to the screw 40 shown in Fig. 5. The plate-like projections 42 extend upwardly from a bracket 45 which has a downwardly extending arm 46 having opposite fiat faces which extend in planes perpendicular to the fiat faces of the projections 41 and 42. This arm 46 may be clamped against a, flat, upright portion of a leg of a machine, for example, by means of screws 47 which extend through enlarged holes in the arm 46 so that this arm may be adjusted relatively to the leg or" the machine. In order to securely mount the arm 46 on the leg of the machine, I preferably provide a plate 48 on the side of the arm opposite to that which engages the leg of the machine. This plate 48 may be rigidly secured to the leg by means of screws t), and the upper portion of this plate is provided with holes through which the screws 47 may also pass. In this manner the bracket 45 may be very securely fastened to the leg of the machine. A mounting of this kind may of course be provided on any leg and may replace any or all of the final supports shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

In the use of my invention for securing a lathe or other machine on a foundation, the machine is initially supported by means of the usual bars at a convenient height above the foundation. The two parts of the primary and final supports are then assembled on the lower face of the bed of the machine in such a manner that the holes in the projections 32 and 33 in Figs. l5 and the enlarged holes shown in Figs. 6 and 7 are substantially concentric. This may be accomplished, for example, by providing these supports with bolts or screws having 4 shanks of the same diameters as the holes. All of the clamping screws or bolts connecting these projections are then tightened. The leg 11 is then secured to the bed by means of both the primary and final supports and the second and third legs 12 and 13 are similarly bolted to the bed of the machine. The several parts of the supports shown in Figs. 6 and 7 are also connected in the same manner for temporarily securing the bed to the legs of the machine.

After the three legs have been bolted to the machine, it is supported by any usual means heretofore employed in connection with the mounting of the machines on their foundations. The legs are then concreted to the base in the usual manner by forcing concrete under the lower ends of the legs. Care of course is taken that the bed is not twisted during this concreting of the legs and also this should be done in such a manner that the lathe bed will be as nearly horizontal as possible.

After the necessary time has passed to allow the concrete to become set and hardened, the bolts, not shown, holding the legs on the concrete may be tightened, preferably to only a part of their capacity. After this has been done, all of the bolts employed in connection with the primary and final supports are loosened and the bed is allowed to rest only on the primary supports so that the lathe will be held on these three supports free from distortional forces except those due to weight. The weight of the machine will probably cause the bed to be bent down at its ends, and to eliminate this bending the end portions of the bed are raised in any suitable manner heretofore employed for this purpose such, for example, as lifting jacks. When the bed has been ad justed in this manner to produce a satisfactory straight bed, then the screws 22 of the primary support and the crosswise screws 40, 43, 47 and 50 are tightened.

After the machine has been in operation for some time, these bolts of the supports are again loosened and the foundation fastener bolts may be drawn tightly against the legs. The levelling of the lathe bed is then repeated while the machine is supported on the three primary supports.

By means of my improved mounting, machines may be maintained with their beds free from distortions, so that work of a high degree of accuracy may be produced. If at any time during the life of the machine it should be deemed'advisable to again adjust the machine bed,

this can easily be done by again loosening the clamping bolts of the supports and again tightening them after the machine bed has been levelled. It will of course be understood that if the machines to be mounted have the usual coolant pans, the supports will be arranged so that these pans will be between the base of the machine and the supports, or between the supports and the legs.

It will be understood that various changes in the details, materials and arrangements of parts which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Means for supporting a machine on a foundation, including legs rigidly secured to a foundation, three primary supports located in triangular relation to each other at the intermediate portion of said machine for preliminarily supporting the machine on said legs, and other adjustable supports for said machine and arranged between said legs and portions of said machine at a distance from said primary supports, said other supports comprising parts secured on said machine and other parts secured on said legs, said machine parts and said leg parts being arranged in vertically slidable contact, and clamping devices for immovably securing said contacting parts to each other when said machine has been placed in straight position free from distortions due to weight. 1 p

2. A machine support according to claim 1 and characterized in that said primary supports constitute ball and socket connections between said machine and said legs.

3. A machine support according to claim 1 and characterized in that said primary supports each include partly spherical interfitting concave and convex parts, one of said parts being secured to the lower face of the base of the machine and the other part being secured to said legs.

4. A machine support according to claim 1 in which said other supports comprise projections fixed on said machine and other projections fixed on said legs and slidably interfitting with said projections of said machine, and means for clamping the projections of said machine with said projections of said legs for supporting the part of the machine to which said other supports are secured in fixed relation to said legs.

5. A machine support according to claim 1 in which said other supports comprise projections fixed on said machine and other projections fixed on said legs and slidably interfitting with said projections of said machine, and means for clamping the projections of said machine with said projections of said legs for supporting the part of the machine to which said other supports are secured in fixed relation to said legs, at least one of said other supports being arranged with said projections extending parallel to said machine and other of said supports being arranged with their projections arranged crosswise of the machine. 9

said projections, means for clamping said projections of said part and said bracket to each other to secure said part and bracket in fixed relation to each other when adjusted in correct relation to each other, said bracket having an arm provided with flat faces arranged in planes perpendicular to said projections, a flat face on a machine leg against which a flat face of said arm is placed, and other means for clamping said arm to said leg when arranged in correct relation to said machine bed and said leg.

7. A support according to claim 6 and including a plate secured to said leg and having a part overlapping said arm and clamped to said arm by said other clamping means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 925,677 Belcher June 22, 1909 2,010,557 Neuninger Aug. 6, 1955 FOREEGN PATENTS 184,937 Germany June 1, 1907 

